South Korea has a new president: the “phoenix” Lee Jae-myung
The Democratic Party candidate was the clear winner of the June 3 election, which followed the ouster of Yoon Suk-yeol, who had declared martial law in December 2024. The new president will be sworn in on June 4. South Korean press reactions.
Unsurprisingly, Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung emerged victorious in South Korea's 21st presidential election, which took place on June 3.
As soon as the polls closed at 8 p.m. (1 p.m. Paris time), the three terrestrial television networks published the results of the exit poll. In an election marked by a strong turnout of 79.4% of the electorate, Lee Jae-myung reportedly won 51.7% of the vote, far ahead of two right-wing candidates – Kim Moon-soo, candidate of the People's Power Party (PPP), the party of incumbent President Yoon Suk-yeol, and Lee Jun-seok, of the Reform Party – who received 39.3% and 7.7% respectively.
The counting, which is expected to continue late into the night, confirmed the trend, and the conservative Kim Moon-soo conceded defeat.
Earlier, "at 11:45 p.m., Lee Jae-myung left his home, accompanied by his wife," the Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper reported . He then declared: "As I await confirmation of the results of the vote count, I pay tribute to the choice of my fellow citizens. I promise not to disappoint them and to assume the responsibility and missions incumbent upon me."
Courrier International
